Wow, there was a “royal wedding” in the US this weekend. I must have been under a rock somewhere, because I really didn’t know anything about it until it was over.
Even though it was royal, it apparently was a secret. Apparently everyone but me knew the secret.
Okay, I like Chelsea-from what I have seen of her. She seems to have become a smart, caring, beautiful young woman. In spite of all that she has gone through as being the child of the president, the president who was caught cheating on his wife. In spite of being the daughter of a mother who stood by her husband through all of the slings and arrows, ran her own campaign, and who is now Secretary of State. She could have turned out so differently.
But a royal wedding? Aren’t we a decidedly non-royal country? And aren’t royal weddings usually done in public?
The estimated price tag is listed as 2-5 million dollars for the wedding. It is touted as though that is surprising. Not to me. And not to anyone who has watched the wedding reality shows on tv.
A Vera Wang wedding dress probably cost many tens of thousands of dollars in itself. Then, just the incidentals for 400 guests, such as flowers, cake, wedding tents, port-a-potties, and the band would add up very quickly. Do you think they had an open bar? A keg? Does this include the Oscar de la Renta mother of the Bride dress? Or the secret service? Or renting the Jacob Astor estate? I think the estate is owned by friends of the family, so maybe they didn’t have to pay to use that…..but times are tough everywhere.
I’ve been trying to picture the reception. Do you think they had a dollar dance? Who held up the chairs for the traditional Jewish marriage dance? Where did the groom’s family have the groom’s dinner? Is his family rich? I don’t know anything about him except that they have known each other since they lived in Washington as kids (ok, he probably did know her through her awkward years when the press was so hard on her), and both went to Stanford. I can’t imagine what we would do if our son married into that family.
The entire thing just reminded me of the old saying “the rich just aren’t like us.”
I wouldn’t have ordered the port-a-potties.
Just My Life 
Whatever else the Clinton’s might have done, they were excellent, hands-on parents. That was obvious here in Arkansas from her infancy. I liked the fact that they didn’t use her wedding for their political ends.
By: Betty on August 1, 2010
at 11:03 pm
Me, too. And imagine how hard it must have been to fight the media on this.
By: chlost on August 2, 2010
at 9:51 am
I love the last line about how you wouldn’t order the port-a-potties…that was great!
By: jannatwrites on August 1, 2010
at 11:45 pm
Glad you liked it. Heard one report that they were $15,000.00. Still not sure if that meant for each one. Probably.
By: chlost on August 2, 2010
at 9:52 am
The best thing Hillary ever did was call Jackie Kennedy when Bill got elected and ask her how to protect Chelsea. I’m not a big Clinton fan but I really respect her protecting Chelsea so she could have a degree of normalcy. I guessing that a huge part of the wedding’s cost was security. I am glad for Chelsea.
By: Kay Dennison on August 2, 2010
at 10:48 am
She obviously received good advice.
By: chlost on August 2, 2010
at 2:24 pm
And here I thought Spencer and Heidi were the closest thing we could have to a Royal Wedding….. 🙂
By: redriverpak on August 2, 2010
at 1:45 pm
See, you were on vacation and know about this, and I don’t even know who Heidi and Spencer are.
By: chlost on August 2, 2010
at 2:24 pm
After Hillary lost the nomination I immediately began planning for the day Chelsea will run for president!
By: Yael on August 2, 2010
at 5:43 pm
From what I can tell, she’d be great! But after all that she lived through in the white house, she may not be interested.
By: chlost on August 2, 2010
at 7:43 pm
Also, they never marry us. Only if they are really old men and we are hot young babes. Otherwise they marry each other, thank goodness.
By: Yael on August 2, 2010
at 5:46 pm
I’m disappointed to hear that (I love under the rock next to yours). I think that sort of excess damages us all. Contrast it with actress Pauley Perette (from NCIS) – she wore a $20 wedding dress adn used her wedding as a fundraiser for Angel Food network adn other charities she supports and asked her guests o donate to charities rather than give her gifts. Now that’s a wedding to admire.
By: secret agent woman on August 3, 2010
at 8:45 pm
I hope that Blogger will fix the problem with comments soon.
I saw the pictures of the wedding on the news. If this is the wedding she wanted, then I am pleased she could get it. Her father has been going all over the world, like Haiti after the earth quake and also in Asia after the tsunami to help with charity and gave some of his money. Sometimes it is nice to do something for your family too when you can afford it.
By: Vagabonde on August 5, 2010
at 9:57 pm
Yes, I think that if I had all of that money and had made my only child give up so much of her childhood for her parents’ careers, I would be tempted to spend like that for her wedding if she wanted it, too. I admire the rich folks who are investing their money in our future by giving it to charity. Wish I were rich enough to do so, as well!
By: chlost on August 5, 2010
at 10:44 pm